I prefer a tweed jacket with football shorts more than an old chap using a tie and suit - with a colourfull baseball cap! Hate that!As long as Robbo agrees not to wear a tweed jacket with football shorts like last time...
Up the Boro!
But we are Boro. He COULD do it just for Gibbo and for just five months. Even Venables came and he had no connections to Teesside and Boro.I think Will Still would be a big risk as Southampton was his first job in England and he only won 2 out of 13 games with a newly relegated PL team - plus they've now won both of their games since he was sacked. They only averaged a goal a game under him and conceded 20 - they scored 5 in those last 2 games without him. He seemed another head coach who couldn't work out his best team and made 6 changes to his starting line-up against Boro.
That seems to indicate the players maybe weren't understanding how he wanted them to play or even the style he was trying wasn't working. He arrived with a good reputation but his experience is working with teams in Belgium and France and maybe he couldn't get it to work in the Championship given the frequency of the fixtures.
So we've no guarantee he won't struggle to adjust at Boro either - so a too much of a gamble for me and still only 33.
The biggest thing could be that he has other commitments for short term already in place. Up the Boro!
I presume you're talking about Southgate and not Will Still 😉
The three Boro managers with the highest win % are all out of work at present.
1. Aitor Karanka - 47.06%
2. Michael Carrick - 46.88%
3. Garry Monk - 46.2%
I didn't see that third one coming!
Jack Charlton is 4th with 45.60% by the way
yes, I meant Southgate earlier. Perhaps I quoted your wrong post. Big fingers.I think Solskjær is a credible prospect and fits the profile and as you say one of the good guys but Robbo hasn't been in a dugout for 15 years (in Thailand) and for me there's no reason to choose him other than he was Boro's manager during the Riverside revolution and cult hero.
As for Sir Gareth Southgate, there's no way he'd even contemplate a full-time football job at the moment as he's made it clear in recent weeks he wants to work on other projects outside football. Being a Championship manager preparing a team twice a week leaves zero time for anything else - and he's a man with a full diary of other commitments. Plus of course he earned enough with England never to have to work again. Perhaps 102 games as England manager has satisfied his ambition towards football - at least for several years to come...
So i posted the following:
But we are Boro. Sir Southgate COULD do it just for Gibbo and for just five months. Even Venables came and he had no connections to Teesside and Boro.
The biggest thing against could be that he has other commitments for short term already in place. Up the Boro!
As Bob has mentioned about the health issues with Mogga, Alan Nixon revealed that Mowbray is set to undergo a double hernia operation, which would see him sidelined for a little while.
The boyhood Middlesbrough fan last managed at West Bromwich Albion, taking charge of the final three months of last season as the Baggies fell short of the play-offs.
Whilst this hernia operation isn't as concerning as the earlier bowel cancer, it does possibly mean that Mowbray won't be in the running to manage anytime soon, and with Boro wanting to make this process as stress-free and quick as possible, it may just be a case of bad timing regarding the two parties reuniting once more.
If not Mogga, then Southgate. Up the Boro!
I prefer a tweed jacket with football shorts more than an old chap using a tie and suit - with a colourfull baseball cap! Hate that!As long as Robbo agrees not to wear a tweed jacket with football shorts like last time...
Up the Boro!
Jarkko
Is that the description of me when we met in the Fenton Lounge !
🤪OFB
@original-fat-bob - Is Raphael off your own bat or have you "heard the name mentioned", Bob?
@original-fat-bob I refer to a president that wears a funny baseball cap and a dark suit. And talks what ever happens in his mind without any logic.
Nothing but you, mate. Hope your health is better now. Up the Borol
heard it mentioned
Brilliant - those quotes are embarrassingly funny!
@original-fat-bob I remember that well too and why will it have changed? The infamous booking boast aside, who on earth can even remember what O'Neill was like as a player here?
He is being touted purely because he has PL managerial experience yet he did poorly at both Bournemouth and Wolves and was sacked by each club. His win ratio is woeful.
He is wrong on every count, not good enough and not the right fit. He is someone who has been there as a player and manager without seemingly doing, or achieving, anything.
Good luck to O'Neill but we must do so much better.
Can’t see Corboran being persuaded to come to Boro after his comments about his commitment to his boyhood club.
philip of Huddersfield 👍
An interesting take on RE's departure:
@rich-llewelyn-evans I remember that O'Neill was sometimes called headless chicken during his playing time. Some thought he ran around without a purpose in midfield. Just saying like.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko Pardon the pun but I think he's also out of the running now...
No idea really who to expect.
I suspect he wasn't looking so much "drained" as the author suggested but a mixture of 'apprehensive' and 'guilty' as he knew Wolves were about to make an official request to speak to him and then he'd have to face the music and the wrath of Steve Gibson.
Raphael Wicky looks to have come in significantly in the betting, didnt somebody mention him in here ( OFB ? ).
Had a look at his stats, take out Chicago Fire and he has a very impressive win record with Basel, Young Boys and the United States U17.
Out of work, interesting.
Also looking at his pic, he brings the looks of Edwards as well !!
The Northern Echo have also picked up on Raphael Wicky as potential candidate.
I'm not sure about Raphael Wicky, while it was claimed in his Wikipedia (Wickypedia?) entry that he won the Swiss Super League with Basel and Young Boys, he wasn't manager of Basel when they won the double in 2016-17 (Urs Fischer was) - he was actually appointed as manager at the end of that season after boardroom change and in the following season Basel finished 2nd under Wicky - 15 points behind Young Boys. Up until then Basel had won 8 successive title.
I don't know anything about his style or ability but it may be a case of being a coach who has been in the right place at the right time - under him, Young Boys won the title with 74 points from 36 games but the team who finished 2nd only had 58 points. Young boys had won the title on 6 of the previous 7 seasons.
The Swiss League is probably not the strongest with Basel and Young Boys winning 17 of the last 20 titles with Zurich accounting for the other 3.
Seems a bit of a left-field choice to me and again somebody with no English management experience or knowledge of the Championship would be a risk to hit the ground running during mid season.
@werdermouth “Seems a bit of a left-field choice to me and again somebody with no English management experience or knowledge of the Championship would be a risk to hit the ground running during mid season.”
In principle, I’d agree, but if English management experience and knowledge of the Championship is a must-have, we’re fishing in quite a small pool, particularly if SG maintains his record of only appointing out of work managers.
Edwards now confirmed as the new Wolves manager:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c79745l95x2o,
while a Boro statement confirms that Adi Viveash will continue to take charge of the first team while the club searches for a new manager.
We all have our ideas about what sort of new manager we’d be looking for. I bet that most of us will have considered many of the following aspects. Here’s a key question: how many of them do you think are essential in the new man (I’m presuming Serena Wiegman isn’t on the shortlist!)
Firstly, in view of recent events, we need somebody we can trust. We also need somebody who works hard at getting the fans on side. Both of those rule out O’Neil, in my view.
One of the things Edwards (or his coaching team?) did really well was to nurture and develop a strong team spirit. The new manager needs to maintain Boro’s determined will-to-win and resilience. It’s been a key element in our success to date.
We don’t know who it was who galvanised the squad, and it may just have been a combination of attracting a core of experienced, English championship defenders (or Premiership in the case of Ayling and Targett), allied to effective coaching. Add into the mix a spine of native-born Teessiders and the whole has resulted in a team that is very hard to beat. Our new man needs to be able to maintain this impressive defensive solidity, as it’s the basis of a promotion winning team.
That said, he needs to be able to get the best out of the attacking strengths we have and to develop those players who have yet to show us why they were signed, someone who can give the likes of Strelec, Sène, Nypan and Hansen confidence and build on their undoubted talents. Ideally, too, he will be able to support and improve others such as Burgzorg, Silvera and even Hamilton. Clearly, we need someone who can set up the team tactically to score many more goals than we are currently achieving.
One of Edwards’ best qualities was his adaptability. He was always prepared to change systems and/or personnel as necessary. We would probably like the new guy to follow suit. He also needs to be prepared to give the players a good bollocking if necessary, or put his arms around shoulders as needed.
The next manager needs to be an advocate of progressive, attacking football. We all enjoyed the quality of football that Michael Carrick produced in the early days before sides worked us out. I want the team to get me out of my seat. I really don’t want to see a return to Pulisball!
I’m already a fan of Adi Viveash. I hope we can find someone who will work well with him.
Finally, we would ideally like somebody with Championship experience, or at an equivalent level, and he needs to be a proven winner.
Basically, therefore, it’s an impossible job, akin to being The Director General of the BBC. Edwards set a high bar on some of these aspects, whatever we think of him personally. We’re looking at Brian Clough, Arsène Wenger or Alex Ferguson really. Whoever comes in will need a very good coaching team alongside him. None of the candidates we’ve seen mentioned meets all of these criteria, I’m sure. One, though, might come close: Southgate!
Clive you have got that spot on.
I can’t think of anyone else who might be available. I like the Stoke City manager but he’s only been there “2 minutes”.
philip of Huddersfield
My reservation of somebody unfamiliar with English football (neither played or managed) is that this is the last international break and there will be little time to get up to speed as games come thick and fast (11 league games in 43 days) until FA Cup weekend.
Maybe as a summer appointment with pre-season friendlies and all the squad together it's easier to adjust and get your philosophy across - but right now what Boro need is someone to come in who is ready to go and can tweak a few things (especially in attack) and keep us around the top.
At least we have Adi Viveash who knows the Championship but if someone comes in who wants their own staff or has a different methodology then it's a reboot rather than a transition.
It may also be worth pointing out that Wicky only had a 23% win rate at Chicago Fire - so didn't adjust well to another league.